LE: Your commitment to fighting heart disease in women is commendable. Why did you choose tobecome involved in women's heart issues?

JS: Once I found out what the statistics are on women and heart disease, I had to become involved. Heart disease is the number-one killer of women. In 2002, 51% of the deaths from this disease were women. I was also astounded to learn that more than six times as many women die from heart disease than from breast cancer each year, even though breast cancer gets most of the publicity. As a woman, daughter, sister, and mother of two girls, I realized how this issue could easily touch my own life. Getting involved was the next logical step.

LE: Tell us about The Heart Truth' and what it does to educate women about heart disease.

JS: The Heart Truth is a public awareness campaign by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. The campaign's goal is to reduce the level of misunderstanding among women about what causes heart disease. For example, a recent survey found that many people believe as much as 50% of heart disease occurs in persons who don't have any of the traditional risk factors for it, such as cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity, and diabetes. In fact, 95% of those who die from heart disease have at least one risk factor.

One of the main awarenessbuilding measures of this campaign is using the red dress as a symbol, along with the slogan, "heart disease doesn't care what you wear." On National Wear Red Day, held the first Friday of February each year, women and men across the country unite to give women an urgent wakeup call about their risk of heart disease. As a corporate partner of The Heart Truth, the California Pistachio Commission has been promoting these goals by providing consumers with facts about eating well. They also approached me last year to do a campaign to raise the awareness of heart disease among women.
So far I have done four paintings that were lithographed on note cards and sold to raise money for woman's heart health education. The paintings include Red Tulips in a Clear Vase, Woman in a Red Dress, Portrait of a Red Rose, and Self-Portrait in Red. This was a great match for me, since I love to paint and wanted to make a personal contribution. Next year, I plan to paint more card designs for the commission.